North Potomac 18-year-old facing murder charge in connection with death of Gaithersburg man

Forensic testing connected shell casing to gun recovered in Prince George’s County, police say

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June 30, 2026 11:27 a.m.

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Eighteen-year-old Earl Deangelo Charles Jr. of North Potomac is facing a first-degree murder charge following his Monday arrest in connection with the April shooting of Gaithersburg resident Christopher Gove, Montgomery County police said Tuesday in a statement.  

Charles is also charged with the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence and armed carjacking in the April 9 death of Gove, 32, according to police. He is being held at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit in Rockville and is awaiting a bond hearing. No attorney information for Charles was available Tuesday morning on online court records.  

According to police, officers were dispatched shortly before 6 a.m. April 9 to the 12500 block of Carrington Hill Drive in Gaithersburg for a report of a shooting. Responding officers found Gove in his residence “suffering from at least one gunshot wound,” the statement said. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) spokesperson Pete Piringer described Gove’s injuries as life-threatening in a social media post on April 9. 

MCFRS crews provided life-saving measures and Gove was transported to an area hospital, where he later died, police said.   

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According to police, officers found a shell casing in the driveway of Gove’s home, and witnesses reported seeing a black vehicle leaving the area.  

After finding Gove, officers were dispatched to the area of Key West Avenue and Darnestown Road in Rockville for a reported single-vehicle collision, police said. There they found Gove’s black Toyota Highlander, with the driver’s side door open and no occupants nearby. 

Detectives executed a search warrant on the car and “recovered items of evidentiary value,” according to the statement.  

On April 10, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore ruled Gove’s death as a homicide, police said.  

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According to the statement, forensic testing determined the shell casing found in Gove’s driveway was connected to a firearm that had been recovered in Prince George’s County. Detectives determined Charles had been arrested during an investigation that led to the recovery of the gun and then they allegedly connected him to the armed carjacking and shooting of Gove, according to police. 

Charles was arrested by the county police department’s task force officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the statement said.  

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine